Accommodating Intraocular Lens with Flowable Media
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional intraocular lenses (IOLs) implanted to treat cataracts lack accommodating ability, resulting in fixed imaging distance and the need for corrective eyewear for both near and far vision, as they cannot adjust focus like natural lenses.
Innovation Solution
An accommodating intraocular lens design featuring an optic portion with an anterior element, a posterior element, and an intermediate layer, where a flowable media is moved between the peripheral and optic portions in response to ciliary muscle movement, allowing at least two of these elements to change configuration and adjust the lens's power.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a conventional single-element IOL is implanted to treat cataracts, then the surgical procedure is simple and the lens provides stable distance vision, but the lens lacks accommodating ability and the patient requires corrective eyewear for near vision
Solution Approach 1:
The IOL is divided into multiple elements: a first lens element and a second lens element that can move independently. This segmentation allows the second element to shift position in response to ciliary muscle contraction, enabling accommodation while maintaining the simplicity of a modular implantation structure
Solution Approach 2:
The IOL transitions from a static single-element design to a dynamic multi-element structure where the second lens element can change position dynamically. The elements are connected through a hinge mechanism that allows movement in response to physiological signals from the ciliary muscle, restoring accommodative function
2Adaptability or versatility
If the IOL uses multiple lens elements connected by hinges to enable accommodation, then the lens gains dynamic focusing ability, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge connections between lens elements utilize flexible polymeric materials that allow controlled movement. These flexible hinges provide the necessary mechanical compliance while maintaining structural integrity, enabling complex multi-element motion with relatively simple connection structures
Solution Approach 2:
The IOL structure utilizes the eye's own physiological mechanisms (ciliary muscle contraction and zonular fiber tension changes) to drive the movement of lens elements. The system is passive and self-actuating, requiring no external power source or complex actuation mechanisms, thereby reducing overall device complexity while achieving dynamic accommodation
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Restores accommodation ability to the eye, enabling dynamic focus adjustment and potentially reducing the need for corrective eyewear by mimicking the natural lens's ability to change shape in response to muscle movement.
Implementation Method 1
when a flowable media is moved between the peripheral portion and the optic portion in response to ciliary muscle movement
Implementation Method 2
at least two of the anterior element, the posterior element, and the intermediate layer move from a first configuration to a second configuration
Data Source
AI summary
Accommodating intraocular lenses containing a flowable media and their methods of accommodation.